Molecular characterization of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses isolated in Sweden in 2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The analysis of the nonstructural (NS) gene of the highly pathogenic (HP) H5N1 avian influenza viruses (AIV) isolated in Sweden early 2006 indicated the co-circulation of two sub-lineages of these viruses at that time. In order to complete the information on their genetic features and relation to other HP H5N1 AIVs the seven additional genes of twelve Swedish isolates were amplified in full length, sequenced, and characterized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The presence of two sub-lineages of HP H5N1 AIVs in Sweden in 2006 was further confirmed by the phylogenetic analysis of approximately the 95% of the genome of twelve isolates that were selected on the base of differences in geographic location, timing and animal species of origin. Ten of the analyzed viruses belonged to sub-clade 2.2.2. and grouped together with German and Danish isolates, while two 2.2.1. sub-clade viruses formed a cluster with isolates of Egyptian, Italian, Slovenian, and Nigerian origin. The revealed amino acid differences between the two sub-groups of Swedish viruses affected the predicted antigenicity of the surface glycoproteins, haemagglutinin and neuraminidase, rather than the nucleoprotein, polymerase basic protein 2, and polymerase acidic protein, the main targets of the cellular immune responses. The distinctive characteristics between members of the two subgroups were identified and described.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The comprehensive genetic characterization of HP H5N1 AIVs isolated in Sweden during the spring of 2006 is reported. Our data support previous findings on the coincidental spread of multiple sub-lineage H5N1 HPAIVs via migrating aquatic birds to large distance from their origin. The detection of 2.2.1. sub-clade viruses in Sweden adds further data regarding their spread in the North of Europe in 2006. The close genetic relationship of Swedish isolates sub-clade 2.2.2. to the contemporary German and Danish isolates supports the proposition of the introduction and spread of a single variant of 2.2.2. sub-clade H5N1 avian influenza viruses in the Baltic region. The presented findings underline the importance of whole genome analysis.</p

Budget and motivation

Bakgrund: Budgeten är för många företag relaterad till en tids- och resurskrävande process samtidigt som den ses som ett viktigt styrmedel. Det är därför viktigt att företag får ut den förväntade nyttan av budgeten och att medarbetarna är motiverade att arbeta i enlighet med den. Hur och varför motiveras medarbetare till att arbeta i enlighet med budgeten? Behöver medarbetare någon form av morot för att de ska arbeta i enlighet med budgeten eller kan moroten i sig ge förödande konsekvenser? Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur och varför medarbetare motiveras till att arbeta i enlighet med budgeten. Vi vill därför utreda de bakomliggande faktorerna till varför budgeten överhuvudtaget accepteras och om motivationen påverkas av inre eller yttre faktorer. Vi vill även identifiera om det finns några belöningar relaterade till budgetuppfyllelse och i så fall vilken påverkan dessa har på motivationen. Med denna studie vill vi bidra med en teori skapad på empirisk grund gällande medarbetares motivation och acceptans till budgeten. Metod: Forskningens tillvägagångssätt präglas av en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och en induktiv forskningsansats med inslag av deduktion. Forskningsmetoden har varit i form av en fallstudie på AB Helmer Nilsson där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. Slutsats: Den direkta förklaringen till hur medarbetarna på AB Helmer Nilsson motiveras till att arbeta i enlighet med budgeten är delaktighet och samförstånd samt uppföljning och återkoppling i budgetprocessen. Företagets generösa medarbetarpolicy, kollektiva belöningar, arbetsmiljö och arbetsuppgifter är något som indirekt svarar på hur de motiveras. Vidare ses företagskulturen som den direkta förklaringen till varför medarbetarna motiveras och accepterar att arbeta i enlighet med budgeten medan medarbetarnas inre motivation indirekt förklarar varför.Background: The budget is for many companies related to a time and resource intensive process while it is at the same time seen as an important instrument. Therefore, it is important that companies get the expected benefit of it, and that employees are motivated to work in accordance with it. How and why are the employees motivated to work in accordance to the budget? Do employees need some sort of reward to work according to the budget or may the reward itself give devastating consequences? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how and why employees are motivated to work in accordance to the budget. Therefore, we want to investigate the underlying factors related to why the budget is accepted and if the motivation is affected by internal or external factors. We also want to identify if there are any rewards related to the budget, and if so what impact these have on the motivation. With this study, we want to contribute with a theory created on empirical grounds relating to employees motivation and budget acceptance. Method: A qualitative research strategy and a inductive research approach with impacts of deduction have characterized the research. The research method has been in the form of a case study of AB Helmer Nilsson in which semistructured interviews were conducted. Conclusion: The direct explanation for how employees in AB Helmer Nilsson are motivated to work in accordance with the budget is the participation and consensus, as well as monitoring and feedback in the budget process. The company's generous staff policy, collective rewards, working environment and the task itself indirectly explains how they are motivated. The culture of the company is seen as the direct explanation to why the employees are motivated and accept to work in accordance to the budget, while employees intrinsic motivation is seen as the indirect explanation to why

To prioritize in distress : - A case study on the Swedish part of Save the children and Red Cross

Bakgrund: Förvirringen kring hur den ideella sektorn och dess mångfald ska benämnas försvårar situationen gällande hur forskning om sektorn utvecklas. Fokus i denna studie är därför enbart på välgörenhetsorganisationer, som en del av den ideella sektorn. Antalet välgörenhetsorganisationer tycks ständigt öka och som följd har en slags konkurrenssituation utvecklats, vilket har ökat organisationernas medvetenhet kring styrning. Givare och allmänhet förväntar sig allt mer tydlighet och transparens vad gäller information om organisationernas prestationer och resultat. Problemdiskussion: Välgörenhetsorganisationer står inför ett antal utmaningar vad gäller deras styrning. Utmaningarna tycks bero på att beslutsfattandet uppfattas som diffust och otydligt samt att det saknas definitioner och mått av väsentliga begrepp så som prestationer och resultat. Funderingar har väckts kring hur organisationernas beslut om resursprioriteringar görs och vilken roll och påverkan ekonomistyrning har vid dessa situationer. Vidare har funderingar även väckts angående prestationsoch resultatbegreppets innebörd i välgörenhetsorganisationers specifika kontext. Syfte: Studiens första syfte är att kartlägga välgörenhetsorganisationernas beslutsprocess för att identifiera och förklara hur beslut om resursprioriteringar görs och vilken roll ekonomistyrningen har vid dessa beslutssituationer. Vidare syftar studien även till att definiera prestationsbegreppet och hur detta kan mätas samt utreda vad resultatbegreppet innebär för välgörenhetsorganisationer. Studien ska resultera i en referensram för att öka kunskapen om ekonomistyrningens roll i välgörenhetsorganisationers beslutsprocess. Metod: Forskningen antar en fallstudie med två välgörenhetsorganisationer där semi-strukturerade intervjuer och granskning av dokument har legat till grund för insamling av empiriskt material. Resultat och analys: Ekonomistyrningen tycks inte ha den roll eller det genomslag i de studerade organisationerna som den beskrivs kan eller till och med borde ha, detta tycks vidare kunna bero på ett antal identifierade gap. Besluten i organisationerna tycks istället påverkas och styras av en rad andra faktorer, där medlemmarnas tolkning av dessa faktorer uppfattas som utbredd. I dagsläget använder sig organisationerna inte av begreppet prestation utan talar istället i andra termer när de syftar på vad de utför. Resultatbegreppet tycks vidare ha två innebörder beroende på situationen. Slutsats: Utifrån studien som genomförts kan det konstateras att ekonomistyrningen inte har en speciellt utbredd roll i välgörenhetsorganisationernas verksamhet och inte heller i deras beslutsprocess. Besluten tenderar istället att baseras på medlemmarnas känslor, interna diskussioner, extern information, tillströmningen av medel och vad som är publikt för tillfället. Organisationerna talar i termer av output, aktivitet och verksamhet när de syftar till begreppet prestation. Vidare innebär prestationsbegreppet att något utförts, vanligen gentemot mottagaren i utsatthet. Det har dock uppdagats att organisationerna utför prestationer av både social och ekonomisk karaktär. Resultatbegreppet tycks vidare avgöra värdeaspekten i det som organisationerna utför. Resultatbegreppet i organisationerna syftar därmed som följd både till ekonomiska och sociala resultat.Background: The confusion around how the nonprofit sector and its diversity will be named complicates the situation regarding how research about the sector develops. Focus of this study is therefore solely on charities, as a part of the nonprofit sector. The amounts of charities are constantly increasing and as a consequence a competitive situation has occurred, which has increased the organizations awareness about management control. Donors and the public are expecting even more clarity and transparency regarding information about the organizations performance and results. Problem discussion: Charities face a number of challenges regarding their management control. The challenges seem to be related to the fact that the decision-making is perceived as diffuse and unclear. Also lacks of definitions and measures around significant concepts like performance and results. Concerns have been raised about how the organizations' decisions on resource prioritizations are done and what role and impact management control has in these situations. Furthermore, concerns have also been raised regarding the concepts of performance and results and their signification in the charities specific context. Purpose: The first objective of the study is to map the charitable organization's decision-making process. This in order to identify and explain how decisions about resource priorities are made and what role the management control has on these decision-making situations. Secondly, the study aims to define the concept of performance and how the concept of performance can be measured and also examine what the concept of result means for charities. The study will result in a framework for increasing knowledge about the role of management control in the decision-making process of charities. Method: This research adopts a case study methodology with two charities in which semi-structured interviews and reviews of documents have been the basis for collecting empirical data. Results and analysis: The management control does not appear to have the role or the impact of the studied organizations that it is described can or even should have, which seem to depend on a number of identified gaps. The decisions of the organizations seem rather to be influenced and controlled by a number of other factors, where the members' interpretation of these factors is perceived as widespread. In the current situation the organisations are not using the concept of performance, instead they are talking in other terms when they refer to what they do. The concept of result seems furthermore have two meanings depending on the situation. Conclusion: Based on the study conducted, it can be stated that the management control does not have a particularly prevalent role in the charitable organizations and not either in their decision-making process. Instead, the decisions tend to depend on the members' feelings, internal discussions, external information, the inflow of funds and what is currently of public interest. The organizations are talking in terms of output, activity, and operation when they refer to the concept of performance. Furthermore, the concept of performance means that something has been done, usually against the receiver in distress. However, it has been revealed that the organizations are undertaking performance of both social and economic character. The concept of result also seems to determine the value of what the organizations accomplish. The concept of result, as a consequence, therefore aims both to economic and social results

Metabolite-related dietary patterns and the development of islet autoimmunity

The role of diet in type 1 diabetes development is poorly understood. Metabolites, which reflect dietary response, may help elucidate this role. We explored metabolomics and lipidomics differences between 352 cases of islet autoimmunity (IA) and controls in the TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study. We created dietary patterns reflecting pre-IA metabolite differences between groups and examined their association with IA. Secondary outcomes included IA cases positive for multiple autoantibodies (mAb+). The association of 853 plasma metabolites with outcomes was tested at seroconversion to IA, just prior to seroconversion, and during infancy. Key compounds in enriched metabolite sets were used to create dietary patterns reflecting metabolite composition, which were then tested for association with outcomes in the nested case-control subset and the full TEDDY cohort. Unsaturated phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, phosphatidylethanolamines, glucosylceramides, and phospholipid ethers in infancy were inversely associated with mAb+ risk, while dicarboxylic acids were associated with an increased risk. An infancy dietary pattern representing higher levels of unsaturated phosphatidylcholines and phospholipid ethers, and lower sphingomyelins was protective for mAb+ in the nested case-control study only. Characterization of this high-risk infant metabolomics profile may help shape the future of early diagnosis or prevention efforts. © 2019, The Author(s)

Analgesic antipyretic use among young children in the TEDDY study : No association with islet autoimmunity

Background: The use of analgesic antipyretics (ANAP) in children have long been a matter of controversy. Data on their practical use on an individual level has, however, been scarce. There are indications of possible effects on glucose homeostasis and immune function related to the use of ANAP. The aim of this study was to analyze patterns of analgesic antipyretic use across the clinical centers of The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) prospective cohort study and test if ANAP use was a risk factor for islet autoimmunity. Methods: Data were collected for 8542 children in the first 2.5 years of life. Incidence was analyzed using logistic regression with country and first child status as independent variables. Holm's procedure was used to adjust for multiplicity of intercountry comparisons. Time to autoantibody seroconversion was analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model with cumulative analgesic use as primary time dependent covariate of interest. For each categorization, a generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach was used. Results: Higher prevalence of ANAP use was found in the U.S. (95.7%) and Sweden (94.8%) compared to Finland (78.1%) and Germany (80.2%). First-born children were more commonly given acetaminophen (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.07, 1.49; p = 0.007) but less commonly Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.78, 0.95; p = 0.002). Acetaminophen and NSAID use in the absence of fever and infection was more prevalent in the U.S. (40.4%; 26.3% of doses) compared to Sweden, Finland and Germany (p < 0.001). Acetaminophen or NSAID use before age 2.5 years did not predict development of islet autoimmunity by age 6 years (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.99-1.09; p = 0.27). In a sub-analysis, acetaminophen use in children with fever weakly predicted development of islet autoimmunity by age 3 years (HR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.09; p = 0.024). Conclusions: ANAP use in young children is not a risk factor for seroconversion by age 6 years. Use of ANAP is widespread in young children, and significantly higher in the U.S. compared to other study sites, where use is common also in absence of fever and infection